I'm hearing some great reports on the 24-70 f/4 S lens that was introduced for the Nikon Z cameras. The image quality is great according to MTF charts with better sharpness in the center and all the way to the corners than the current f/2.8 lenses. It's sharper across the frame at both 24mm and 70mm.

The other interesting thing is that at 70mm the lens focuses at very close distance and is a near macro lens. It focuses around 5 inches from the end of the lens - and maintains focus as you recompose (minimum focus distance 11.81 inches). Stabilization in the body is a huge help for this close focus work. I understand the Nikon rep indicated that Nikon will only consider a lens a "Macro" lens if it provides 1:1 focus, and this one is not that magnified at 1:3.3. But it seems to do the job nicely.

The specs on the lens are pretty good. It's 3.5 inches long with a 72mm filter size. The weight is just 500 g - 1.1 pounds or about .75 pounds lighter than the 24-70 f/2.8 lenses. The lens has 14 elements in 11 groups with 7 rounded aperture blades. Several elements have Nano Crystal or Super Integrated coatings. The control ring can be used for manual focus or to adjust aperture or exposure comp settings.

All in all, the kit lens is far more than a kit lens. It's a high quality lens that you would want whatever your mount. The person who tested this lens at Hunt's demo on the Z7 was planning to wait but changed their mind and placed an order.

I have been hearing the same about close focus abilities of this lens. While not a macro lens, like for insects and such, I expect that it would be great as a close for flowers and such, being able to get close and zoom in. I wish I had more time with it. I have high hopes this will be true. One could hike mountain alpins just have this lens and can shoot vistas and all sorts of alpine flower comps. get close to a set of paint brushes and use focus stacking for altimate DOF. Also, in these cases, I'm pretty sure it doesn't have to be 2.8 or better.